too closely.
It will be better to let the plans mature a little. A mere plot doesn't
mean much. News value comes in action. When something actually happens,
then, knowing what lies behind it, the story becomes big.

"What we really want to find out is whether this plot--as it seems to
be--is just a matter between two or three men, or if it is widely spread
over all the islands of the West Indies. You're too young, as yet, for
anything like regular newspaper work, but the fact that you're not much
more than a youngster might be turned to advantage. No one would
suspect that you were in quest of political information.

"So I'm going to suggest that you make a fairly complete tour of the
islands, this fall and early winter, just as if you were idling around,
apparently, but, at the same time, keeping your ears and your eyes open.
In order to give color to your roamings, you can write us some articles
on 'Social Life and the Color Line in the West Indies' as you happen to
see it. First-hand impressions are always valuable, and, perhaps, the
fact that you see them through a boy's eyes may give them a certain
novelty and freshness. Of course, the articles will probably have to be
rewritten in the office. By keeping a copy of the stuff you send, and
comparing it with the way the articles appear in the paper, you'll get a
fair training.

"We'll probably handle these in the Sunday Edition, and I'm going to
turn you over to the Sunday Editor, to whom you'll report, in future."

He nodded pleasantly to the boy in token of dismissal.

"I wish you luck on your trip," he said, "and see that you send us in
the right kind of stuff!"

Stuart thanked him heartily for his kindness, and went out, sorry that
he was not going to deal with the Chief himself.

The Sunday Editor's office was a welter of confusion. As Stuart was to
find out, in the years to come when he should really be a newspaper
man, the Sunday Editor's job is a hard one. It is much sought, since it
is day work rather than night work, but it is a wearing task. The Sunday
Editor must have all the qualities of a magazine man and a newspaper man
at the same time. He must also have the creative faculty.

In such departments of a modern newspaper as the City, Telegraph,
Sporting, Financial, etc., the work of the reporters and editors is to
chronicle and present the actual news. If nothing of vital interest has
happened during the day, that is not their fault. Their work is